Middle East: Estimated Annual Crypto Volume at $350 Billion

Open Sesame. The annual on-chain crypto transaction volume in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is estimated to reach approximately $350 billion by 2025-2026, up from $100 billion in 2022. This represents a tripling in three years, driven particularly by Saudi Arabia, where cryptocurrency trading was declared illegal overnight in 2018. The kingdom shows the highest increase in the region, with a 154% rise year-on-year, while the rest of the Gulf is already advancing at a steady pace. This could reshuffle the cards of a market that was thought to be locked down by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).
Key points of this article:

• The annual on-chain crypto transaction volume in the Middle East and North Africa could triple by 2025-2026, reaching $350 billion.
• Saudi Arabia, despite an official ban, has seen a spectacular 154% increase in cryptocurrency trading over the past year.

According to the Bitcoin Policy Institute, an American think tank that published this estimate in early September, SAMA has repeatedly stated since 2018 that cryptocurrency trading remains prohibited for residents, yet the kingdom's on-chain volume has jumped by 154% year-on-year.

This is the highest growth in the entire MENA region. A young population plays a significant role, with 35 million inhabitants, a smartphone adoption rate close to 97%, and over 60% under the age of 35. This creates a fertile ground for circumventing a regulatory framework deemed outdated, even if it means turning to offshore platforms rather than local banking channels.

Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are boosting the Middle East with stablecoins. Turkey remains the regional giant, with about $200 billion exchanged annually, a figure inflated by chronic inflation that drives households towards digital dollars. In the United Arab Emirates, the Bitcoin Policy Institute estimates the volume at $150 billion by 2025: Bitcoin accounts for 38% of exchanges, Ethereum 22%, and dollar-pegged stablecoins, mainly USDT and USDC, 30%.

Chainalysis places this same market around $53 billion over a comparable period. The two institutes measure different scopes, but the trend is not in dispute.

A connected youth is fueling crypto in the Middle East. When Iranian missiles struck the Emirates in June 2025, local exchanges closed their doors. At 21Shares, Vice President Stephen Coltman notes that "crypto exchanges continued to operate normally."

In Egypt, peer-to-peer Bitcoin volumes surged by 300% after the latest devaluations of the Egyptian pound, a classic scenario in economies where the local currency collapses faster than trust in it. Qatar shows an annual growth of 120%, just behind Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is not an isolated case.

The youth of the region is pushing in the same direction, raised on mobile applications and reluctant to wait for a regulator's approval to open a digital wallet. The same Chainalysis reports volumes in Israel 60.4% above expected levels since October 2023, a deviation from the trend rather than a mere raw increase. The region has learned to trade under pressure. In June 2025, the surge in hostilities between Israel and Iran caused the global crypto market capitalization to shrink by 3.7% in a few days, without slowing the underlying dynamics of the Gulf.

The Middle East is not inventing anything. It is replaying, on a larger scale, what Latin America or Sub-Saharan Africa have already shown before it. Inflation and distrust of the local currency do more for crypto adoption than any marketing campaign. The Saudi kingdom lives a paradox: it officially bans crypto on paper but has become the most dynamic market in the region. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates plays the opposite card with an assumed regulatory framework, even if it means multiplying fines against actors operating outside the rules. Doha, on the other hand, moves forward without bans or much fuss, with the same 120% growth. The only real risk in the Middle East is no longer getting caught trading crypto. It is being outpaced by a neighbor who has chosen to regulate rather than prohibit it.

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